Liddell to Macnaghten

The archaic pronunciation of surnames has not always developed at the same pace as our language, and can cause confusion. The table below gives guidance on the pronunciation of a selection of English surnames - establishing the traditional pronunciation of a surname will ensure that you do not cause offence. 

Surname

Pronunciation

Lisle

Lyle

Listowel

Lis-toe-ell

Lombe

Loam (sometimes Lumb)

Londesborough

Londs-bro'

Londonderry

Londond'ry (city pronounced London-Derry

Loudon

Loud-on

Loughborough

Luff-bro

Louth

'th' as in 'mouth' (Ireland 'th' as in 'breathe')

Lovat

Luv-at

Lowson

Lo-son ('lo' as in 'go')

Lowther

Low-thr ('low' as in 'now')

Lycett

Lisset

Lygon

Liggon

Lyon

Lion

Lysaght

Ly-set

Lyveden

Live-den (as in 'give')

Macara

Mac-ara

Macbean

Mac-bain

McCorquodale

M'cork-o-dale

McCulloch

M'cull-och

McDonagh

Mac-Donna

McEvoy

Mac-evoy

McEwan

Mac-ewen

McFadzean

Mac fadd-yen

McGillycuddy

Mac-li-cuddy

Machell

May-chell

McIvor

Mac-Ivor

McKay

M'Kye (as in 'eye')

McKie

Mack-ie (occasionally pronounced M'Kye)

Maclean

Mac-layne

Macleay

Mac-lay

Macleod

Mac-loud

McLachlan

Mac-lochlan

Macnaghten

Mac-nawton

 

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